


The Cat, The Witch, and The Batmobile

by JennySynaard, superheroesiguess



Series: Local News: Billionaire Adopts Local Child (Again) [1]
Category: Batman - All Media Types, DCU
Genre: Adoption, Bruce Wayne is a Good Parent, Crack Treated Seriously, Damian Wayne is a Little Shit, Gen, Injury Recovery, Jason Todd Has Mental Health Issues, Jason Todd Needs A Hug, Jason Todd Swears, Magic, Mentioned Alfred Pennyworth, Mentioned Cassandra Cain, Mentioned Diana (Wonder Woman), Mentioned Hal Jordan, Redemption?, Serious Injuries, who knows - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-08
Updated: 2021-02-18
Packaged: 2021-03-18 21:40:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 4
Words: 6,787
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28624989
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JennySynaard/pseuds/JennySynaard, https://archiveofourown.org/users/superheroesiguess/pseuds/superheroesiguess
Summary: AKA: Bruce Wayne Adopts Klarion the Witch BoyBruce Wayne had an unhealthy habit of picking up strays. From the beloved Dick Grayson (first Robin, the golden child) to the loud Stephanie Brown (Spoiler, the rowdy child), more often than not his estate was filled with kids who needed a home and parental figure, so it wouldn’t hurt if he adopted one more (he can hear Alfred scolding him). Even if that new kid happens to be the embodiment of chaos with a cat and had many, many times kicked his ass in combat.
Relationships: Bruce Wayne & Damian Wayne, Jason Todd & Bruce Wayne, Jason Todd & Damian Wayne, Stephanie Brown & Damian Wayne, Stephanie Brown & Jason Todd, Stephanie Brown & Klarion (DCU)
Series: Local News: Billionaire Adopts Local Child (Again) [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2097618
Comments: 34
Kudos: 111





	1. There's a Cat and a Rat in my Basement

**Author's Note:**

> I've always felt like Klarion is underappreciated as a character, so when one day I got this idea I decided to write a little and see how it went and then somehow Jenny got involved and it became the monstrosity you see before you, hope you enjoy I guess

Jason grumbled to himself as he warmed up some high quality coffee in the kitchen of the Wayne Manor. Due to some unfortunate and rather tedious circumstances, Bruce had to be swept away for a Justice League mission (Jason heard something about magic and instantly dipped out of the conversation; he had his fair share of magic to last a lifetime) while Alfred was away (the reasoning being unclear; Jason had bet a grand that Alfred had bailed when he was still sane). This ultimately led to Alfred calling up any related, responsible adults to help take care of the manor, and subsequently Damian, who was adamant on saying he could handle himself because  _ I am not a child Pennyworth _ . Jason was the only one free (Dick has a morning shift and couldn’t drive back; Tim is CEO of Wayne Enterprise; Cass is doing her own thing; Stephanie is at her internship; Duke and Barbara are ‘out’) and was stuck on babysitting duty. Perks of being legally dead with no absolute smooth way of being revived without causing mass hysteria.

There wasn’t much to do (Alfred was always a tidy person and no one was a complete slob) and Jason didn’t exactly have the best relationship with Damian (it became an unsaid contest on how long they can ignore each other’s existence). So as Jason drank his coffee that wasn’t spiked in one hand and poured dog food into two bowls with his other, he wasn’t really expecting anything out of the ordinary (he should’ve expected something; he literally dresses as a glorified serial killer and fights alongside some unexplainable scientific phenomenons).

A loud  _ SLAM! _ from the study caused Jason to accidentally spill some coffee into a dog bowl and to immediately tense up, his mind kicking into overdrive and tunnel visioning. Quickly putting the mug and dog food on the bench, he carefully grabbed a nearby knife (kitchen knife, sharp enough to stab but not enough to kill smoothly) and started his cautious, silent walk down the creepy and empty hallway. He knew that his paranoia was wrestling with his rationality for the wheel, in fact it could’ve been Duke reporting in and going up to grab something to eat or someone using the hidden doorway as an entrance. When he reached the grand doors of the study however, he noted with some disappointment that the door was shut exactly the same way it was hours ago and didn’t seem to have any marks, scratches, or holes in it. 

Just as he was about to open the door and catch the absolute rat of a person, a voice too squeaky and shrill screech out, “Todd! Can you explain why there is coffee in Ace’s breakfast?”

Cursing out the little demon spawn from under his breath (Damian lost the made-up contest and cost him his element of surprise), Jason swung the heavy study doors with a loud  _ BANG! _ only to see a very disheveled Batman rummaging around every file cabinet and drawer like his life, pride, and wealth depended on it. 

“B?” Jason exclaimed, stunned. It’s not every day you see the famed Dark Knight of Gotham rummaging through his alter-ego’s belongings like a tornado (Jason swears that Batman has done a much nicer job digging through police reports with a ticking bomb than now), but it’s a cold day in Hell when you see a Batman in a torn up suit and missing the cowl, not to mention the fact he was covered in crimson, cakey blood that was probably his own. “B, what the fuck happened to you?” Jason stared wide-eyed as Bruce methodically raced around his study while simultaneously searching like a madman.

“Jason, I need you to tell me where Damian keeps his first aid kit,” Bruce demanded without pausing his mission to destroy the study (Jason would like to imagine this is how B reacted when he was buried in all that rumble). 

_ Didn’t even say a hello, the absolute jackass. _ “Isn’t there a lifetime supply in the Batcave?” Jason replies. “You were literally there a minute ago, I doubt you need a kiddie version from your son.”

Bruce continued on his seemingly pointless search and throw, not even bothering to look up and glance at his somewhat estranged son. “No, I need one specifically for animals. Preferably one for cats.” At this point, Jason had three little inklings for what happened; one, Bruce or someone (10 bucks it was Superman) accidentally harmed a cat (maybe it was an important cat, he doesn’t know) during the mission and is going bonkers about it; two, he’s finally gone insane after all these years; or three, the most likely and probable, he was drugged and is experiencing a psychotic break (with the amount of shit the Joker pulls, it’s a miracle how B has gotten this far without snapping a neck or two).

“What, did the big blue boy scout drop a cat out of a tree?” Jason snarks, making sure that his words hit a target dead on. It was always a game between them, seeing how long Bruce holds up with Jason’s attitude and how much Jason can hurl at Bruce before either of them give in. Over the years, it’s gotten better (in fact, compared to Jason’s grand reappearance in Gotham, this is a lot tamer and healthy), but there’s still a level of spite that seems to have latched onto the present and cannot let go.

Batman had opened his mouth, maybe to reply to Jason, maybe to repeat his command, maybe to tell him to back off, he wouldn’t know because in a moment of miraculous timing and luck, the demon spawn walked in. “Todd! You better be able to explain that coffee in Ace’s bowl or I will-” Damian didn’t get to finish his threat before he noticed the giant elephant in the room.

“Father? What are you doing home?” he asked while at the same time attempting to comprehend the mess that had been created. It was funny, Damian who always idolized his father goggling at the giant mess the big bad Bat made because he needed to help a cat. If Jason wasn’t so irritated at Bruce’s weak justification (seriously, he can write a 100 page essay on why supervillains should be rehabilitated instead of sentenced to the death row, but can’t even leave a reasoning when he suddenly dips), he would be laughing.

With one final  _ SLAM! _ of a desk drawer, Bruce looked over to his youngest son. “Damian, I need you to bring me one of your animal first aid kits immediately. I’ll be in the Batcave waiting,” he ordered. In a blink of an eye, Bruce had scurried over to the back wall of the study and ripped the broken grandfather clock off its hinges, revealing an elevator that was waiting for him. He pressed a button and hopped in just as the door closed.

_ Why does his disappearing act transcend all of logic?  _ “What the fuck! He can’t just do that!” he exclaimed angrily while kicking some rather old books that fell on the floor (Jason cannot wait to tell Alfred about this). Looking to his right to attempt (after all, Damian did lose the contest) to discern how Damian felt about this, Jason only saw an empty space where a short tot would be scowling. “Holy shit, he’s actually getting the first aid kit.”

Muttering under his breath, Jason decided that he should at least tidy the space a bit so no creature trips on it (last thing he needs is someone to break an arm because of a stack of papers that weigh like a brick). In about two minutes and forty-seven seconds, he managed to move all obstacles and health hazards off the wooden floor and into a disorganized mess on the desk. Jason then maneuvered his way through the study over to the clock, making sure the fake opening was covered and properly sealed before walking into the elevator, safe from any prying eyes. He needed to see for himself what was really happening, what the fuss was about and what has gotten Batman’s pants in a twist. As he pressed on a button that was coined by a Bat insignia sticker, he noticed that his shoes were smearing blood on the clean and shiny floor. Alfred was going to be pissed if he saw this.

As the elevator made a slow descent down, Jason couldn’t help but worry. Was Bruce okay? Was Bruce going to die from blood loss? As much as he convinced himself he didn’t need the old man, Bruce can do whatever and Jason wouldn’t give two fucks, Bruce is known to be stubborn, to never take help even when people hold out a hand and yell at him. He would much rather die saving someone than saving himself, which is what Jason majorly disagrees with. It’s a part of being a superhero: you can’t save everyone who calls out for your help, so desensitize yourself to death and make sure nothing is personal. Bruce might want to go out as a martyr, but Jason wasn’t a saint.

The elevator doors stop before readjusting themself and opening with a whirr. The Batcave is just as dark as usual due to temporary disuse, aside from the designated medical area which was lit up like an operating room in a hospital. Pushing any conflicting emotion to the curb, Jason starts his confident stride over to the medbay and spots a figure of some short person, not Bruce (he was too bulky) and not Damian (he was too pale), possibly a child (too young, just like Jason was once upon a time), laid out on the medical bed. Next to that bed on a gurney seemed to be some small orange creature, very possibly the cat Bruce was fumbling about. A million questions swarm his mind, the loudest one being  **WHO IS THIS PERSON AND WHAT ARE THEY DOING IN THE BATCAVE?**

As Jason got closer and closer, he could see the figure on the bed was indeed a young boy who looked very injured, if not, close to dead. The boy looked like his skin got bleached, definitely from a loss of blood and maybe genetics and was definitely unconscious judging by the fact he was slowly falling off the medical bed and wasn’t opening his eyes. He also noticed, for some odd reason, Bruce seemed to be tending to the cat instead of the boy.

Now close enough, Jason made sure his presence was well-known and grabbed the kid’s arm before he fell off the bed and lifted him back onto it. “What the hell happened Bruce?” he asked empathically. He was exhausted from being left in the dark (and deep down, Bruce wouldn’t tell him without being prompted to).

Hearing this, Bruce sighed and looked over his shoulder to see Jason standing by the boy with his arms crossed and a cold stare. “I can’t tell you right now Jason. I just need you to trust me with this and if you could, please help out,” he explained, obviously tired from whatever happened, probably the mission, before this.

Gritting his teeth, Jason stared warily at Bruce’s face before finally making up his mind, “I’m going to help, but I need to know what the fuck happened to this kid when this is over,” he stated as he walked over to the sinks and starts washing his hands thoroughly. He could tell Bruce was looking at him, maybe in gratefulness, maybe in annoyance, but he didn’t care as he made sure his hands were clean and rushed back over to tend to the boy.

Looking closely at the boy, Jason could see bright red burn marks across his chest, bleeding deep cuts and welts on his visible skin, and some very obvious broken bones protruding the skin. “Jesus Christ,” Jason muttered quietly as he removed Bruce’s old hurried bandages, so he could start working as fast as possible using the medical knowledge he learned years ago and praying that this kid could not feel a thing. He could feel the questions in his throat, wanting to ask as he worked gently and swiftly, but refrained himself. He’ll get those answers soon enough, but he needed the concentration to not accidentally kill this child.

Too distracted by the ghastly wounds, Jason didn’t notice Damian running up to them with an animal first aid kit in hand. “What happened here?” Damian asked with a cold voice, seemingly deeply hurt that a cat was hurt in the process.

Before Bruce could answer (for being the world’s greatest detective, he was sure slow at answering questions), Jason responded for him. “B’s going to be telling us everything once the kid is alright,” he stated shortly. Damian looked particularly annoyed, but by now Jason had tuned his complaints out in favor of trying to stop this kid from bleeding out.

Next to him, Jason could distantly hear Damian and Bruce talking some more, a voice being hush and a voice that was clearly agitated, but Jason had to hurry and try to stop the bleeding from one very gruesome cut. Bruce brought them here for a reason and he’ll rather have them both dying on him. “Bruce, you have to help with this kid!” Jason shouted out as he applied pressure to the gash and blood started to coat his hands. As much as he didn’t particularly care about the kid or the cat, he’ll rather have Bruce perceive it as a “I tried my hardest and I failed” than a “I didn’t try at all.”

(After all, Bruce had a thing where failure is personal to him. Jason is Bruce’s greatest failure and honestly Jason did not want another thing added to the list with his name attached.)

“I’m nearly done here,” Bruce insisted from the gurney where he worked with Damian doing God knows what. Jason didn’t have time to think about the fact Bruce was more worried for a cat than a kid because the blood on his hands was starting to itch and the blood coming from the kids body was starting to look like deadly amounts. “Shit!” he cursed as he grabbed a nearby cloth to hold to the wound only for the blood loss to suddenly and eerily slow down on the boy.

He stared in shock at the gash that was previously raining down blood. Small trickles of blood leaked from the open wound and just as he was about to ask what on Mother Mary just happened, he was interrupted. “Did it work?” Bruce questioned before walking over to Jason’s side and examining the absolute carnage.

“It seems like it did, that’s good —”

“What the fuck?”


	2. Storytime with Bossy Bat, Bitchy Bat, & Bratty Bat

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hiya there! thanks for all the kudos and comments!! i'm really happy to see that people are enjoying our story and it really makes our day to see how many people are interested!!!
> 
> two things:  
> 1\. hi i'm jenny synaard aka the editor/beta reader of this story. i make everything look nice basically  
> 2\. we're updating this story every 2 weeks around this time so :P
> 
> enjoy this chapter!! we're slowly getting there skksksks

Jason really fucking hated the living room. Not only was it decorated as if it was straight out of a page from a magazine in the 1940s (Jason would know; he did some digging once upon a time as a tiny Robin and great-great Mrs. Wayne isn’t so slick in hiding her unoriginality), but it held an aura that felt like it should’ve died long,  _ long _ time ago, and Jason knew enough about death to say that it sends shivers down his spine if he thinks about it too much. Death should be left alone, not reanimated again and again because someone couldn’t let go.

They had trudged up to the ground floor, not leaving a speck of dirt and blood on the floor and sat in the uncomfortable plush chairs, Jason making sure he was as far away from Bruce as humanly possible and Damian making sure  _ he _ was as far away from Jason as possible (Alfred would complain that they were being dramatic, but you cannot be a member of the coined ‘Batfamily’ and not be dramatic to the bones). They all stared intensely at each other, glares packed full of demanding questions and neither one addressing another like a one sided ping-pong match.

After some agonizing minutes later, Jason couldn’t handle the stale, thick would-probably-need-a-saw-to-break-it-up tension much longer. If there’s one trait that both the Al-Ghuls and blood Waynes have in common that  _ definitely _ passed onto their Satanic offspring, it’s their steel sharp stubbornness. “It’s time for an explanation, B,” Jason stated curtly, clasping his hands together and making sure his face didn’t betray his stone-cold facade. “And don’t do the thing you do to avoid answering. A kid nearly died and we don’t have time to pander around.”

The still-heavily-injured-and-probably-in-tremendous-pain (seriously, Jason would know this because in Bruce’s file under the medical tab, it directly states “Do not administer any pain medication to reduce the risk of an overdose.”) Bruce sighed deeply, pinching the bridge of his nose and closing his eyes before finally speaking up about the slippery truth. “That ‘kid’ in the Batcave isn’t exactly a child,” he started off, which immediately placed Jason into more of a frustrated mood than he already is. 

_ And you’re doing that thing where you beat around a beat. Good job.  _ Rolling his eyes in annoyance, Jason replied exasperatedly. “Okay then, he’s just some short guy. Get to the important shit B,” he snapped rudely, making sure to show that he wasn’t going to play games with Bruce and his absolute tricky, vague and blunt wording. Seriously, how did he get with half of his body count with his shit charisma? 

After a death, definitely a genetic scowl from both Bruce  _ and _ Damian (Jason didn’t want to admit he flinched because his pride is on the line), Bruce continued his prolonged and half-assed explanation. “The boy’s title is Klarion the Witch Boy, and that cat in the Batcave with him is his familiar, Teekl.”

Jason immediately jumped to his feet while Damian narrowed his eyes and frowned upon hearing this, quite frankly and utterly, terrifying news. “And why exactly did you bring a villain to the Batcave?” Damian demanded with a sour tone, a fury in his eyes that would make Talia, the stone cold bitch who Jason wouldn’t touch with a 10 feet pole (seriously, Bruce has terrible taste in women and it shows), proud.

“Yeah old man, why the Hell did you bring someone who can incapacitate  _ Superman _ to your mancave?” he shouted angrily, pointing a finger at Bruce. “Out of all the things you bring, you kidnapped a person who can kill your best friend right after they’re through with us!”

Bruce clenched his jaw from this outburst and Jason swears he can see a vein nearly pop, which he definitely shouldn’t pride himself on but one can be a little conceited, can’t they? “Jason, sit down,” he commanded, and upon seeing that Jason wasn’t moving at all, still defensive and willing to fight, he glared once more at his slightly estranged son. “There’s more to the story than that.”

Grumbling under his breath about  _ starting with that part first instead of dropping a bombshell _ , the second eldest Wayne backed off and sat down reluctantly on the very expensive and stiff couch. Bruce has, of course, brought villains to the Batcave before, but they’re always the common ones that needed to be temporarily detained, or the ones Bruce could beat up without missing a breath. Never once has Bruce brought over a villain that had some form of magic Bruce definitely didn’t have a plan for, which is insane in of itself. Batman, B, Bruce: the most paranoid man on the planet with contingencies for his contingencies and weapons of mass destruction built, with consent, just for his friends. 

Bringing his attention back to the real world, Jason saw that Bruce was about to resume his story again. “The mission didn’t go as expected due to none of us knowing what exactly we were going to be fighting against. The call for help has been vague, but the situation sounded dangerous, so we prepared and left as soon as we could. We had sent Barry to try and figure out what we were up against, and when he didn’t come back we knew to be on high alert. When we finally saw who we were up against, we were caught off guard and Clark had been knocked unconscious.” Jason raised his eyebrows in anticipation while Damian scoffs.    
  
“It appeared that the Enchantress, Circe, and Klarion had teamed up for some reason unknown to me, but it seemed likely Klarion was only there for a fight while Circe and the Enchantress had an ulterior motive behind this attack. Diana started to battle Circe on her own while Oliver decided the best use of his . . . particular skills would be to irritate the Enchantress. Luckily, Dr Fate had decided to tag along on this mission, so he moved quickly to fight Klarion.”  _ God fucking damn it Ollie. _

“Hal had rushed off to find Barry, leaving me to bring Clark to a safe area alone. Once Clark was secure, I immediately moved to help Oliver who was barely dodging Enchantress’s attacks by that point. The fight was harsh and somehow I ended up getting more injuries than Oliver, who had taken to his role of bait rather easily. It wasn’t until mid-fight that I heard a scream followed by a loud thud to my left. It turned out Dr Fate had defeated Klarion and his familiar, but he didn’t seem to be stopping his attacks even with Klarion covered in blood on the dirt. I was able to stop him before he did fatal damage, but that left Oliver alone against the Enchantress who quickly took it for advantage. As soon as Dr Fate moved to fight the Enchantress in place of Oliver, she decided to run leaving Diana with Circe, both of whom had vanished into the forest in the beginning of their fight.”

“I quickly tried to use some medical supplies to stop Klarion from bleeding out as we waited for Hal, Barry and Diana to return. Once they did we quickly travelled back to the Watchtower, but Dr Fate didn’t enjoy the fact I was bringing Klarion and his familiar, so I was promptly sent to the Batcave and here we are,” Burce finally concluded his story with a long drawn out sigh.

Jason and Damian sat silent on the couch as they let the new information sink into their brains and stick like pasta on a wall. Jason, however, still had questions as while it might’ve answered the dire question of who, what, when, and how, it doesn’t answer the why. “Okay then . . . that still doesn’t explain why you decided to prioritize the cat instead of the kid,” he addressed. As much as he’s experienced some weird ass things, this definitely takes the cake besides his resurrection.

After muttering some incomprehensible sentence under his breath, probably swears or cursing out Jason’s name, Bruce answered. “The cat, Teekl, is Klarion’s familiar. The only way to properly harm or weaken Klarion is through Teekl, and the only way to heal Klarion is to heal Teekl,” he stated matter of factly.

Confused once again, Jason spoke, “So his life is linked to a cat of all things?”

“No, not exactly,” Bruce uttered, trying to find the words that were rapidly escaping from his brain, “If the cat were to die, then Klarion would just be forced back into the realm he came from. What exactly that realm is remains unknown to me, and what Klarion is capable of also happens to be a mystery I don’t know the answer to.”

A complex expression then appeared on Jason’s face as he made a strangled noise. God damn all emotionally constipated men and their selfish thinking. “Then why the fuck did you bring him here?” he snapped. “He can kill us!”

“Todd, you nearly killed Titus by putting coffee in his food you have no room to talk.” Jason nearly forgot about the pipsqueak. Despite the fact that his snide comment was about coffee in food can kill your dog, he couldn’t help but feel offended by the invisible hostile undertone of ‘you have no room to speak because you’re a murderer’.   
  
(He might be reaching here, but again, are you a Bat if you’re not dramatic?)

Bruce just groaned upon hearing this and started to walk away, probably to the Batcave to escape the incoming barrage of questions and yelling. Almost as soon as Jason attempted to follow him and bug him for some logical reasoning, the front doors slammed open with a  _ BANG! _ and a loud, joyous voice echoed throughout the manor that made Jason’s heart drop and Bruce visibly wither.

“Honey, I’m home!”


	3. Goldilocks and the Three Bats

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'd like to say that Jenny and I remembered we were updating this week and did everything in a timely manner, but no, we scurried around like rats running away from a cat. Hope you enjoy this chapter though

The loud, energetic voice echoed throughout the barren halls of the Wayne Manor, and Jason couldn’t help but  _ cringe _ once he recognized who exactly had yelled those words. It’s almost as if the world wanted to fuck him over today, and decided to capture all of Jason’s annoyances into one, big soap opera for an invisible audience. Damian, who had just stood up from the couch, probably to chase Jason down and berate him for nearly poisoning his dog, froze up and immediately locked eyes with Jason as if he just got caught with his hand in the cookie jar.   
  
_ You heard that?  _ Damian’s green eyes flashed with genuine fear that would’ve made Jason laugh if they weren’t in a life or death situation.   
  
_ Yup.  _ Jason made sure to add a nod in case there was some miscommunication outside of the nonexistent telepathic link. Damian snapped his head away, presumingly marking all the points of entry and exits in the living room in case someone was going to storm the room in a chaotic nature. They both probably looked ridiculous, paranoid men who just got caught in the middle of a crime. How ironic.

Shifting in suspense, Jason looked down the hall with eagle eyes while Damian watched the door punctiliously. Everything was quiet and still, breathing suddenly shallow and Jason didn’t dare to blink as the footsteps clicked closer and closer to him, seemingly coming from all directions. Damian, with his League of Assassins training, starts tip-toeing further away from Jason, backing himself to a wall that Jason knew couldn’t be seen from any of the entry points. Fuck.   
  
Suddenly he heard a battle cry come from the right side and his legs were kicked out from under him, causing him to land arm first and nearly topple over on the polished wooden floor. “Fuck!” he cursed out through the pain, hearing a bunch of laughing above him and sitting up just so he could glare at them.

Behind him in the living room, he could hear Damian greeting the intruder, the absolute bastard. “Hello, Stephanie, can I ask what purpose you have for being here?”

“Well, I was actually coming over to help take care of you over the promise of Alfred’s cookies, but it seems like that’s been covered, so now it seems like I’m only here for movie night with Cass,” she teased and Jason could practically hear Damian lecturing her about how much  _ he didn’t need to be cared for, thank you for your absolute concern Brown. _

Jason shakily stands up and turns around sluggishly to see Steph and the demon spawn staring at each other with a tense air in between them. He internally groans, holding his hand to his face as he racks his brain on how to stop the Wayne Manor from burning down. “Oh, fuck this,” Jason grabbed Steph by the arm and started to drag her away from Damian who had a dangerous glint in his eyes that screamed Talia. “Steph, you’re coming with me, you have to see some shit.” He can hear his inner monologue praising him for stopping the next civil war in Gotham. He’s too old for this shit.

Steph looked confused for a minute but smirked after a minute. “You could at least buy me dinner first- ow!” Jason playfully pushed her into a wall, giving her ample time to recover before they continued walking. “That’s not how you treat a woman!”

Already tired of his somewhat-sister-who’s-not-his-sister-but-also-is, he groaned out. “Sorry, I should’ve known you were coming over, the dead birds in the yard were a sign.”

With a fake offended gasp, she retaliated, “I’d insult you back but I think being alive is already too hard for you.” For a minute she looked like she regretted that, Jason’s known for his death and he didn’t react to that very well.

Letting out a little scoff, Jason finally got Steph to the elevator. “I was hoping to at least chat a little before I was brought to the Batcave, but okay, I can adapt,” Steph rambled on the ride down, hoping to make the awkward tension go away. Though, as they both descended down the elevator, it only got more stuffy and heavy.

The elevators came to a halting stop and the doors shuttered open, revealing the lit-up and bare medical area. “What happened down here?” she asked nervously, looking at Jason for some reassurance. 

“Bruce decided to try and save some evil kid today and now we have to deal with the repercussions,” Jason stated bluntly and he watches as her face falls with some delight.

They walked side by side over to the medical area where Bruce sat down, finally working on his own injuries like the absolute dunce he is. “So, uh, why the fuck is there a cat on a gurney?” Steph asked crudely while pointing. Bruce didn’t seem surprised by her presence, but didn’t seem keen on answering.

“I don’t know, magic shit I guess, B just told me their souls were connected or some other bullshit,” he recited, giving a little side eye to B who didn’t look back.

Steph wasn’t exactly listening at this point as she walked up to the cat and started cooing at it, stroking its fur. “What happened to this little kitty here?” she spoke.

The second-eldest shook his head at that and then turned his attention to the kid, apparently known as Klarion. Bandages covered most parts of his body like a mummy and Jason felt proud of his work regardless of how shoddy it might be. Considering the kid nearly died, it’s a job well done.

Right in his peripheral vision, Jason could swear that he saw one of the kid’s fingers twitch and shifted to watch as the kid seemed to be waking up. He let out a small groan from the pain and managed to open his eyes a tiny bit before passing out once more. Jason cringed at the thought of how much pain this kid must be in and grit his teeth upon seeing the dried blood that was practically stained onto the kid’s hands.

Grumbling, Jason started to search the nearby cabinets for some wipes he could use to clean up the blood. “What are you looking for?” Steph asked as she walked over to the unconscious child and glanced at Jason on her way, checking his pulse and vitals.

Jason grunted in reply and grabbed the wipes he had found in the third cabinet. “Don’t need your help,” he grumbles, moving past Steph and back to the kid. He could sense Steph roll her eyes at that and scowled. “He looks rough, Jay,” she observed solemnly. She was probably still new to the vigilante scene and the absolute jadedness you needed.

“I know that already,” he snarks while taking out some wipes and starting to attempt to clean off the blood. Steph stayed silent after that and grabbed some wipes to help Jason out, not that he needed it. She cringed as she wiped off flakes of dried blood off of the kid’s face, and Jason couldn’t help but feel some sympathy.

It was completely silent until a quiet hiss echoed throughout the Batcave. “The cat’s awake,” Bruce commented surely, having moved to the gurney the cat was sprawled out on. Jason and Steph both turned their heads at the same time to see the poor creature struggle to move away from the perceived threat, Bruce, and fail horribly due to their extensive injuries. The poor cat wouldn’t stop hissing and kept trying to move in ways that would surely undo some stitches if they continued like that. 

“Maybe we should bring them somewhere quiet?” Steph suggested with pity laced in her voice.

“How though? The thing looks like it’ll die of a heart attack if we come any closer,” Jason interjected, crossing his arms.

Bruce watched this with an unreadable expression on his face. “We’ll have to knock them out,” he observed coldly.

Jason nodded silently upon hearing this while Steph stared incredulously at Bruce, “You do realize we’re dealing with a cat right?” Jason just rolled his eyes. This was going to be slightly messy.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey, we tried


	4. The Rat with the Cat is Back

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i've been living a shitty dystopia for a week now and my brain is so fried from boredom and Cold  
> sorry if these chapters haven't been up to par lately!! i'll probably edit these one day to a) make them more descriptive and b) work on characterization/plot points!!
> 
> anywho enjoy!! these chapter titles are my fucking favorite things lmao

Once the arguing had settled and everyone had stubbornly agreed to an action, the cat had been carefully taken into one of the Batcaves holding cells for some spacious peace and quiet. Steph, Jason, and Bruce grabbed some chairs and sat around the unconscious Klarion, occasionally glancing at his vitals or getting up to pace a bit. According to Bruce and his infinite wisdom that was achieved through mass paranoia, now that the cat, Teekl, was awake, Klarion should follow soon after due to their soul-bound link and the laws of magic, so they had to keep a close eye on him in case he wakes up.

As much as Steph agreed that they should make sure the kid wouldn’t blow some gaskets from waking up in an eerie place (she wouldn’t blame him; the first time she woke up in the cave, Steph nearly cried from looking up at stalagmites), she felt awkward just staring at an unconscious vampire-wannabe child. “This is weird guys,” she blurted out her thoughts, “Maybe we should play a game while we wait for him to wake up?”

There was dreadful silence right after and Steph cringes. She should’ve expected this given that she was talking to the two most emotionally wrecked people on the globe. After a minute, Jason got up and sighs, seeing as Bruce was not going to speak up. “Okay, what do you guys feel up to?” he asked with his hands on his hips tiredly.

“I’m always up for Monopoly,” Steph voiced her suggestion, cracking her knuckles.

With a glare, Bruce spoke up. “We shouldn’t play around when waiting for someone to heal,” he chastised.

Rolling his eyes, the second eldest bat-child scoffed and moved next to the medical bed. “The kid’s probably gonna be unconscious for the next ten hours by all standards, so if we have to sit here we may as well-” He was suddenly cut off by a pale bandaged hand grabbing his wrist. “Holy fucking shit!” Jason yelped out.

“Where the fuck am I?” A raspy, slightly high pitched voice demanded.

Steph made sure to grip her hidden baton as she looked at the scene. Standing next to a medical bed was Jason, looking shocked as Hell because some tiny pale child demon thing had grabbed his arm in a deathly grip, the knuckles of his hand turner even whiter than she’s ever seen. Bruce gets up abruptly with a stone cold face and a calm posture. “Klarion, I know this is an unusual situation-” Bruce starts, but he was quickly interrupted by the previously mentioned kid.

“What are you going to do to me?” Klarion growled out in what seemed like an attempt to be threatening, but only managed to look pitiful. Steph couldn’t help but be reminded of the cat or one of those cowardly criminals she faced on a normal basis.

Bruce lifted his hands up in a non-threatening way, showing how he doesn’t have a weapon in hand. “I’m not going to hurt you-” He starts again and is once again interrupted, this time by Jason.

“Get your hand off me right now before I perform an impromptu amputation,” he threatened angrily, pulling his wrist away to shake off the pale hand.

Klarion looked severely unimpressed at this as he took his hand off of Jason’s wrist and slowly looked at his surroundings. “Where’s Teekl?” he asked harshly, his whole body frozen and his eyes somehow turned even colder and dead.

Rubbing his wrist, Jason beat Bruce to it as he answered Klarion’s question. “Your cat? It’s in that cell over there,” he vaguely gestured to it with his head. 

Quickly, Klarion tore all the wires out of his body and pushed himself off the medical bed, trying to stand on some scarily, shaky legs. He was already stumbling past her when Steph reached out to help him walk, though he slaps her hand away. “Fuck off!” Klarion hissed primarily from anger, but definitely added to by the pain.

Steph slowly moved her hands away and watched him stumble in a hurried way over to where Teekl was being kept. She followed closely behind with Bruce by her side and flinched when she saw Klarion collapse to the ground. “Shit, you should let me help you,” she suggested kindly, walking up and extending her hand outwards to him.

“I don’t need any help,” Klarion seethed out as he shakily pulled himself back up, walking past her. Steph grumbles under her breath. It frustrated her when people who clearly needed help didn't accept it.

Back in the medical area, Steph could hear Jason distantly. “Good for you kid,” he mocked. She probably would’ve berated him if he wasn’t far enough away to not attract too much attention.

Bruce was watching Klarion warily from next to Steph until one of his gadgets started ringing. Bruce groaned before pulling the gadget out from his utility belt, it turned out to be a phone that looked too slick and sophisticated, and sighed upon seeing who was calling him. “Steph, watch Klarion, I have to take this,” he grumbled before walking away to grunt on the phone. Knowing Bruce, it was probably Lucius. 

Now Steph was left mostly alone with Klarion, who kept on struggling his way over to the holding cell Teekl was kept in. Finally reaching the point where Klarion could see Teekl through the reinforced glass window, he started to run even when his body clearly couldn’t handle it. Steph could see that visibly because Klarion was now leaving bloody footsteps in his wake, and she swore under her breath. Alfred was going to hate this.

Teekl seemed just as excited as Klarion to see him, judging by the fact Steph could see the horribly injured creature crawl their way to the window and purr. It was a slightly touching reunion only ruined by how injured they both looked and the window separating them. She watched as he then placed his hand on the glass and closed his eyes, his hand looked like it was starting to phase through the glass before Klarion yanked it away with an angry look in his eyes. “Shit!” he snarled, cradling the limp arm.

“What, what was that?” Steph inquired curiously, ready to knock someone out if she needed to.

Klarion glared over his shoulder at her before answering, “I was trying to move through the glass if you just have to know,” he snapped at her, clearly annoyed.

If Steph had a nickel for every time a man did something impulsive, she would be as rich as Bruce Wayne. She walked over to the keypad next to the door of the holding cell and quickly input the code, the door opened automatically with a shutter. “There, now you don’t have to go through walls, you just have to let me help you walk,” she offered as she looked down at the small boy.

Sneering, he contemplated his options and with a slight growl he stumbled over to Steph. “I don’t care, I have to see Teekl,” he muttered tiredly.

He flinched as soon as Steph touched his arm, which she took note of, and moved his arm so he could rest some of his weight on her. Once they were inside the holding cell, she slowly put Klarion down onto the small bed his cat was waiting for him on.

Klarion seemed to be whispering something to his cat and Steph honestly felt like she was intruding at this point, so she left the room and softly closed the door behind her. Then as she looked behind her she saw a very familiar face, putting her hands up in surrender and smiled innocently.

“Okay, Cass so I know I said it was movie night-”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> all editing notes will be here once i get around to it


End file.
